Air Canada To Begin Experimenting With AI Phone Agents for Flight Delays

Air Canada is experimenting with artificial intelligence in its customer service division.

Though Air Canada has been working on incorporating AI into the business for years, its inclusion may begin this summer, according to The Globe and Mail.

Travellers who have been affected by flight delays or cancellations will be able to contact customer service for help, though the agents will consist of AI-powered voice assistants instead of actual humans.

“So, in the case of a snowstorm, if you have not been issued your new boarding pass yet, and you just want to confirm if you have a seat available on another flight, that’s the sort of thing we can easily handle with AI,” Mel Crocker, the company’s vice-president and chief information officer, told The Globe and Mail.

Crocker added that the AI will learn and adapt based on the calls it handles at the beginning. Air Canada hopes the inclusion of this AI will reduce the amount of time customers spend on hold.

The idea is that human agents will work on complex calls with multiple variables while the AI focuses on simple tasks that don’t require as much bandwidth.

Though Air Canada is aiming for a summer launch, they have yet to formally unveil these plans.

Air Canada service is frequently in the crosshairs of travellers. Most recently, Shang-Chi actor Simu Liu called out Air Canada staff at Pearson Airport in Toronto. “The worst are completely apathetic and use the crowds as punching bags,” he said on Instagram stories.